Despite a recent delay, the stage
appears set for online trading
in electric transmission capacity.
THIS IS ONLY A TEST (EM FOR NOW.
But come January, if all goes well, the OASIS program will start up in real time, with customers venturing onto the Internet to place reservations for capacity on the nation's electric transmission grid.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has authorized Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Southern California Edison Co., and San Diego Gas and Electric Co. to guarantee notes totaling $250 million for loans to two trust funds to support the development of computer hardware and software for the state's proposed independent system operator (ISO) and power exchange (WEPEX), but commissioner Jesse J. Knight has dissented, worrying about cost control.
As noted in a parallel story ("PUC Loans Would Bolster ISO, Power Exchange," Headlines, p.
On January 1, 1998, California will "deregulate" the state's electric utilities. The Western Power Exchange (WEPEX) and the independent system operator (ISO) will start up, creating an open market for wholesale power.
Elizabeth A.
Thermal Energy Storage: Putting
Green Solutions
on SiteBy John E. Flory, Loren W. McCannon, Stan Tory,
Donald L. Geistert, and James PattersonA recent study coordinated by the California Energy Commission shows how stored-cooling applications provide both environmental and competitive benefits in a summer-peaking market.As California prepares for a more competitive electric future, the California Energy Commission (CEC) is taking another look at some key customer technologies.
While the cost of common household goods like bread and milk increased 77 and 50 percent, respectively, from 1985 to 1995, the average residential electricity bill for customers of San Diego Gas & Electric Co. (SDG&E) dropped 13.6 percent over the same period, according to San Diego Chamber of Commerce statistics.
That trend shows no sign of abating. In fact, low rates are fast becoming a staple for the utility's 1.2 million electric customers.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved a request by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E), an electric utility, to extend balancing account treatment to payments it makes for settlements or judgments rendered in litigation of purchased-power contract disputes with qualifying cogeneration facilities (QFs).
[An earlier CPUC order authorized the utility to record payments to QFs to terminate agreements and to settle contract disputes in its adjustment-clause balancing account.
The three largest California investor-owned utilities (IOUs) (em Pacific Gas and Electric Co., San Diego Gas & Electric Co. (SDGE), and Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) have circulated for comment working drafts of future Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) filings concerning a deregulated electricity industry.
One 150-page proposal asks that operational dispatch control of transmission facilities be conveyed to an ISO, beginning January 1, 1998.
So the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) won't break up the electric utility industry. But it may happen anyway (em if not at the FERC's direction, then perhaps under pressure from state regulators who, some say, are threatening to link stranded-cost recovery to vertical disaggregation.
What would a breakup mean for bonds and bondholders?
As we reported last month ("New Corporate Structures Place Bondholders at Risk," May 1, 1996, p.
Although the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a December 1995 order (Docket No. CP93-258-007) giving Mojave Pipeline Co. a green light to expand into California, the planned Northward Expansion Facilities have been tabled. The reason: A three-year delay caused by jurisdictional disputes between the FERC and the California Public Utilities Commission, as well as problems involving the FERC's contract-demand reduction policy, caused Mojave to lose its projected customer base.
While examining cost allocation and rate design for natural gas distribution services provided by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., a local distribution company (LDC), the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has concluded that the long-run marginal cost method it adopted in 1992 was not proving effective in producing prices observed in fully competitive markets.